POS 3713 Understanding Political Science Research Unit 2 Exam Questions with Solutions.

Understanding Political Science Research (POS 3713‐01, Fall 2016, BEL 180) Prof. Jens Großer Unit exam #2 10/17/2016 This is the second out of four multiple choice tests (unit exams) that count for your final grade. There are 25 questions with four possible answers each. In all questions, only one of the four answers is correct. You will receive 1 point for each correct answer, and 0 points for each incorrect answer. Hence, the maximum possible points in this test are 25 points. Please read the questions and possible answers carefully before you make your choices! Also, don’t forget to write down and “bubble” your name on the answer sheet! On Chapter 4: 1. Which of the following is true if a study used random sampling to select its participants? (a) It means that the causal conclusions reached in the study about the relationship between X and Y are scientifically valid. (b) It means that every member of the population was given the opportunity to participate in the study. (c) It means that the results are more likely to be statistically significant. (d) It means that every member of the population had an equal probability of being selected to participate in the study. 2. Which of the following best captures the difference between experimental and observational research designs? (a) Experimental designs control for confounding variables through randomly assigning participants to different treatment groups, while observational designs accomplish this through statistical controls. (b) Experimental designs are less prone than observational designs to bias caused by a researcher unintentionally influencing the behaviors of participants. (c) Reverse causality is more likely to be problematic in experimental designs. (d) Experimental designs are more likely to have problems with internal validity because of how they recruit participants, whereas observational designs do not suffer from this difficulty as often. 3. A competent researcher would be least likely to study which of the following using an experimental research design? (a) The influence of negative media coverage on Iraq War opinions. (b) The influence of emotional rhetoric on candidate evaluations. (c) The influence of personal ideology on candidate evaluations. (d) The influence of peer‐group discussions on Iraq War opinions. 4. What is the most significant benefit of randomly assigning participants to different treatment groups? (a) It ensures that the sample is an accurate representation of the population at large. (b) It ensures that you have a credible causal mechanism linking X to Y. (c) Both (a) and (b). (d) It controls for other possible causes of the dependent variable.